Guidance for businesses providing - Step 4 guidance from 19 July close contact services

Step 4 guidance from 19 July

Guidance for businesses providing
     close contact services

           July 2021

This guidance is produced to help businesses providing close contact services operate safely
and keep staff, customers and the wider community safe from the risk of transmission of Covid-
19.

The measures are recommended be practised in addition to any other legislative or regulatory
frameworks that apply to the business, e.g. food hygiene, health and safety or licensing
legislation. Businesses that want to check the legal status of their activities in relation to such
legislation, e.g. the Food Safety Act 1990 or Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 etc, should ask
for their own independent legal advice.

What does close contact services mean?
Close contact services refer to the following services:
    • Hairdressers/barbers
    • Beauty and nail bars
    • Makeup artists
    • Tattoo/piercing studios
    • Spray tanning studios
    • Spas
    • Sports and massage therapy
    • Dress fitters/tailors and fashion designers

Working safely
The first steps to becoming COVID-19 secure is to ensure safer working practices are in place and
this would apply to all businesses.

   1. Covid-19 risk assessment
         • It is a legal requirement for any business with 5 or more employees to ensure they
             have a written risk assessment in place. For further assistance on completing risk
             assessments, please refer to the guidance issued by the Health and Safety
             Executive.
   2. Cleaning, handwashing and hygiene procedures
         • Encourage frequent cleaning and handwashing within the workplace with further
             attention on areas where frequent touch is made.
         • Providing hand washing facilities or hand sanitisers at multiple locations including
             entry, exit, washrooms for customers and staff.
   3. Face coverings
         • This will be a personal choice for staff and members of the public. However, it is
             strongly recommended to encourage your staff and customers to wear face
             coverings.
   4. Help people work from home where necessary

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• Ensure that staff who are unwell do not attend work and must stay at home.
              Including workers who have been notified to self-isolate through the NHS Test and
              Trace system.
    5. Although social distancing is no longer a legal requirement from 19th July, it is best
       practice to implement social distancing to minimise risk of transmission. Businesses may
       also implement the following:
           • Using screens/barriers to separate people from each other
           • Using back-to-back or side-to-side working as opposed to face-to-face whenever
              possible

Helping with NHS Test and Trace
To help the NHS Test and Trace programme and contain any outbreaks or clusters:
   • It is encouraged that you keep a temporary record of all your customers/visitors as
       well as your staff shift patterns for 21 days.
   • You are encouraged to display an official NHS QR code poster, so that customers
       and visitors can ‘check in’ using this option. Official QR codes can be generated
       online.
   • Individuals who do not have a smartphone or the NHS COVID-19 app to provide their
       contact details can record their information through booking systems. For example,
       through appointments either online or over the phone.
   • If you feel you may need to close because there is still a rise in cases despite action
       being taken or due to the number of people testing positive, employers should also
       contact London Coronavirus Response Cell (LCRC), Public Health England to report
       the suspected outbreak by emailing LCRC@phe.gov.uk or calling 0300 303 0450. The
       LCRC will:
       • undertake a risk assessment
       • provide public health advice
       • where necessary, establish a multi-agency incident management team to manage
       the outbreak.

Getting your business ready
   • It is best practice to ensure you communicate clear guidance on social distancing
     and hygiene for your staff, customers and visitors. This can be done through:
     • Your website/social media
     • Prior emailing your customers/visitors
     • On arrival at your premises using clear signage, social distancing markings,
     posters and stickers.
   • Avoiding the need for people to queue by encouraging appointment only bookings
     where possible.

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•   Review your incident and emergency procedures and consider whether you have
      enough trained staff to keep people safe.

Keeping your customers and visitors safe
  •   It is best practice to ask COVID-19 related screening questions to clients ahead of
      their appointment, such as:
       • Have you had a new continuous cough?
       • Do you have a high temperature?
       • Have you noticed a loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell?
       If the client has any of these symptoms, however mild, they should be encouraged
       to stay at home and reschedule their appointment.
  •   Encourage customers to wash their hands or use hand sanitiser upon entry to
      venues by installing multiple hand sanitiser dispensers or hand washing facilities
      around the premises.
  •   Maintain social distancing in waiting areas if the area is small and crowded when
      clients wait for their appointments.

Protecting your staff
  •   Review working arrangements for staff where social distancing can be maintained.
      Where this is not possible consider side-by-side or back-to-back working, use of
      screens/barriers and face coverings in congested areas or any other personal
      protective equipment that is necessary.
  •   Assign working areas to an individual as much as possible and put teams into shifts
      to restrict the number of workers.
  •   Minimise the contact between different workers where possible while serving a
      client such as photographers, makeup artist and stylists during a photoshoot.
  •   Encourage the use of contactless transactions to minimise contact between staff
      and customers such as accepting contactless payments to avoid cash handling.
  •   Using screens to create a physical barrier between workstations, where this is
      practical.

Providing services
  •   It is advisable that appointment times should be kept short where possible.
  •   Look into ways movement within the premises can be reduced. This could be done
      by encouraging the use of electronic devices (phones, tablets) to pass information
      such as sending orders to the kitchen.
  •   Prepare the required materials and equipment necessary in advance of the
      schedules appointments to minimise the movement to communal working areas.

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•   Provide a secure area where social distancing can be maintained when services or
       treatments require development time such as hair colouring.
   •   Use disposable gowns and items where possible. For example, nail files, and ensure
       non-disposable items are cleaned between clients.

Cleaning and hygiene
   •   Encourage good hygiene practices for everyone with clear signage promoting
       frequent hand washing, avoid touching faces, hand sanitisers upon entry/exit to the
       premises, entry of toilets and multiple areas in the premises.
   •   Provide additional hand sanitisers in multiple locations where appropriate.
   •   Space appointments to allow for frequent cleaning of works areas and equipment
       between uses.
   •   You are encouraged to have procedures in place for frequent cleaning of objects,
       equipment, surfaces and areas between uses with further attention on areas where
       frequent touch is made (e.g. door handles, till, toilets and items between each
       customer use e.g. chairs, treatment beds, scissors, etc).
   •   Staff should be encouraged to engage in frequent hand washing especially before
       and after contact with clients and have with bins for collections of used overalls and
       towels.
   •   You should ensure there is good ventilation and good circulation of air in the
       premises by:
       • Opening doors (except fire doors) and windows where possible
       • Ceiling/desk fans
       • Air conditioning.

Personal protective equipment (PPE)
   •   It is highly encouraged and best practice that people providing a close contact
       service to wear a clear visor/goggles and type II face mask to provide a barrier
       between the wearer and the client from respiratory droplets caused by sneezing,
       coughing or speaking.

Monitoring of your procedures
You should verify and review your procedures as necessary. Where needed, you should
appoint staff to ensure your visitors and volunteers follow your safety precautions.

Failure to complete a risk assessment which takes account of COVID-19 or completing a
risk assessment but failing to put in place sufficient measures to manage the risk of
COVID-19, could constitute a breach of existing health and safety legislation.

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Although this guidance provides advice how to put COVID-19 secure measures in close
contact services, it is extremely important that these are implemented and monitored
regularly.

Useful links
Current official guidance can be found at:

   •   Government guidance on working safely during the pandemic
   •   Government guidance on close contact services
   •   Government guidance on sports and gym leisure facilities
   •   Government guidance on reopening your business safely
   •   Health and Safety Executive guidance for employers and businesses
   •   Health and Safety Executive guidance on air conditioning and ventilation
   •   Government guidance for employees
   •   Handwashing instructions from the NHS
   •   Government guidance on cleaning for non-healthcare settings
   •   UK Hospitality COVID19 guidelines for hospitality businesses
   •   Staying COVID-19 secure in 2020 poster
   •   Government guidance on maintaining records to support NHS Test and Trace
   •   Create a coronavirus NHS QR code for your venue
   •   COVID-19 Response - Spring 2021 (Summary) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

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